YouTube app disappears in iOS 6

Long-simmering tensions between Google and Apple have resulted in the YouTube app disappearing from the latest betas of iOS 6, the forthcoming update to system software for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The end of the pre-installed YouTube app marks Apple’s latest move to reduce its reliance on the Mountain View search giant inside its software. It comes in the wake of Apple’s decision to build its own maps application to replace Google Maps in iOS 6.

The native YouTube app was an effort to legitimize HTML5 encoded video. Apple used it as leverage, got the entire YouTube catalog converted over to iPhone-friendly video and everyone else followed suit. If you were an iPhone user in the early days, you’ll remember that the entire catalog wasn’t available at launch. Google, who had recently purchased YouTube, started crunching through all of the videos, converting them over to HTML containers and caught up some months afterwards. This was a huge factor in the sidelining of Flash video. Now, HTML5 is the standard so Apple doesn’t need a native YouTube presence built into iOS any more.

And there may be something in it for Google as well. The company’s Android app for YouTube is far more fully featured than its iOS counterpart, and it may be able to develop for the Apple platform more quickly now that it isn’t tied to the iOS release cycle. More important, from a revenue perspective — Google would be free to show ads inside the new app, something that wasn’t possible in the Apple partnership.